Snapshots Without Time

16/08/2012

By Akshay Bhoan

This is the golden era of the snapshot culture. Everyone has a camera and everyone takes pictures. But does a snapshot exist in a place where there is no time? If nothing changes, will taking a picture still be the same? How would it matter if you took the picture now, 10 minutes later, or 10 years later, if life was still, without movement, without time?

The true snapshot is a instant picture; a polaroid. The medium in itself is decaying, fading as soon as it is shot and the chemical characteristics of the film ensure that it creates more than just a picture—it creates time. The instant picture is the closest a snapshot comes to being what it really should be: “a living moment experienced”.

Akshay Bhoan is a documentary and editorial photographer based in Bombay and New Delhi. Highly inspired by classical art, his work explores domains of beauty, loss, and the transient nature of life. Educated as an engineer and self-trained as an artist, his images show a delicate balance of visual aesthetics and technical understanding of the medium. Currently he's based in Uttar Pradesh, working on his new project.